Home entertainment systems which combine Personal Computer and television functions (PC/TV systems), are increasingly becoming generic user-interactive multiple-source and multiple-destination communication devices. Such multimedia systems are required to communicate in different data formats between multiple locations for a variety of applications in response to user requests. For example, a PC/TV system may receive data from satellite or terrestrial sources comprising High Definition Television (HDTV) broadcasts, Multi-point Microwave Distribution System (MMDS) broadcasts and Digital Video Broadcasts (DVB). A PC/TV system may also receive and transmit data via telephone (e.g., the Internet) and coaxial lines (e.g., cable TV) as well as from both remote and local sources such as Digital Video Disk (DVD), CDROM, VHS and Digital VHS (DVHS™) type players, and PCs.
Such a generic PC/TV entertainment system requires a variety of different On Screen Displays (OSDs) for use with video program content from different sources or for different applications. The processing of multiple different OSDs in television and multimedia systems is constrained by time, memory size, and other practical limitations. A system according to the present invention provides an OSD management and control system that efficiently accommodates the data processing constraints.